Fri, 13 Mar 2009

Issue 75 of Colors Magazine
is out. I haven't seen it yet, but its website has been updated.
The theme is Cease-Fear. Innocent individuals affected by counter-terrorism
policies around the world have been interviewed for this issue. Last
November, I was interviewed by journalist Elena Favilli and then
visited by photographer Piero Martinello and video artist Heloisa
Sartorato. Some more details on this issue:

The countdown for Guantanamo and its torture
methods has begun, but the “dark skin + Muslim =
terrorist” equation is likely to leave a long and lamentable
legacy.

From the tragedy of the Twin Towers to the recent events in Mumbai, for
many the threat of a new major act of terrorism necessitates relentless
political, technological and day-to-day approaches to defense. But
growing suspicion and fear of ‘the other’ has been
the price of that defense.

Colors 75 examines this fear and its consequences: From traveling,
daily life and the little frailties we can smile at, to the
often-concealed violations of human rights committed in the name of
security.

The case of Sami El-Haj, imprisoned in Guantanamo for six years without
charge then released without an explanation, is one example featured in
the magazine. David, arrested for failing to look at a policeman while
taking the underground to his girlfriend’s place, is another.

Mark, Ardeth, Kevin and Hicham
are just four among the thousands who can no longer fly without
worrying about the color of their skin or the reputation of their
religion. And as many line up jadedly at the airport check-in desk,
Paul in Utah builds an anti-terrorism-attack bunker for
€2500/m2, an elderly lady buys an electric pistol for
€400, two Kentucky pensioners patrol their local river for
terrorists, bees are trained to detect explosives and police in London
cordon off a Thai restaurant after the smell of frying chili arose the
suspicions of the neighbors.

Bruce Schneier and Loretta Napoleoni, a security expert and an
economist, respectively, attempt to break down all this fear.
“Terrorism,” says Schneier, “is a crime
against the mind that uses violence as a totally casual
weapon.” So casual that the “chances of being hit
by lightning,” says Napoleoni, “are higher than
those of dying in a terrorist attack.” If you don’t
yet know whether you’re apocalyptic or integrated, find your
path out of terror using the orange pages, Colors’ mini
encyclopedia on terrorism and its diverse remedies.

Colors 75 / Cease-Fear: on sale from March 2009. In three
bilingual editions – English plus Italian, French or Spanish.

I was on my way to meet my girfriend at Hanover Square and was
just waiting for the train.

What was so suspicious about me? My jacket was allegedly too
warm for the season, I entered the station without looking at the
police officers, I was carrying a backpack, I looked at people coming
on the platform, I played with my mobile phone and I took a piece of
paper from inside my jacket. Is all this suspicious? I think it's just
normal.

Do you know what they found particularly interesting in my
pockets? A folded A4 page where I did some doodles in red ink, a small
promotional pamphlet for the movie The Assassination of Richard Nixon,
and the active part of an old work pass with its electronics visible.

This is not making people safer, it is treating normal
people as criminals, and choosing to create a surveillance state. It's
dangerous”.

UPDATE: Colors / Cease-Fear is now available in
newsagents and specialised bookshops in London. (If you have
difficulties finding a copy, it's distributed in the UK by COMAG
Specialist - a very helpful company that called me back when they
promised to do so to let me know of several places close by having it
in stock.)

Hicham Yezza, also featured in this issue, has been jailed following
a nine-month
sentence. His profile, in this issue of Colors, ends with:

I was completely shocked by the surreal scenario. I
was kept in custody for six days as officers went through every
details of my life with intense scrutiny: my activism, my books, my
writing, my love life, my photography, my work in theater and dance
and my cartoons. When they failed to find anything they tried to
quickly deport me for immigration charges. An obvious abuse of power,
this sets dangerous precedent by stifling freedom of speech, needed
now more than ever in the fight against extremism.

(I've updated the XP number, as the one I originally published was unfortunately incorrect. You can also donate to Hicham's legal fund; see at the bottom of the IRR article: The case of Hicham Yezza for details.)